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A daily look inside Canadian politics and power. | | | | |  | | By Joseph Gedeon and Zi-Ann Lum |
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Welcome to Ottawa Playbook. I'm your host, Joseph Gedeon in Washington, with Zi-Ann Lum. We have details on Ottawa’s latest Canadian Charm Offensive in D.C. Plus, Liberal MP JOHN MCKAY has some thoughts on Republicans. Oh, and questions were asked about a C$1.45-billion Canada Account transaction. |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
Message to Washington: Don’t forget Canada. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | CANADA’S D.C. OFFENSIVE — Don’t expect any news from National Defense Minister ANITA ANAND and Innovation Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE’s final day in Washington. The pair is due at the Wilson Center this morning for an armchair discussion that caps their three-day tag-team trip to woo the U.S. defense industrial base. Anand and Champagne, Canada’s No. 1 salesman, have been hustling since Wednesday, meeting with Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. The message they’ve been touting around town is that Canada is literally right there. Don’t forget Canada — and its vast reserves of minerals deemed critical to U.S. national security and essential for the long-term vitality of American defense suppliers. A senior official from Anand’s office granted anonymity in order to speak candidly about the trip told us not expect any new defense announcements today. Next week, though, may be different with the one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine around the corner. Anand heads to Brussels Monday for a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels, followed by a NATO defense ministers’ meeting. The gathering will come days after Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY’s own tour of Brussels, asking lawmakers in the European Parliament to give his country a home in the EU. — The other Canucks in town: The Canadian inter-parliamentary delegation wrapped up its nearly four-day trip to D.C. after scoring facetime with dozens of American counterparts in the halls of Capitol Hill. Playbook caught up with the seven-person Canadian delegation as it was headed into a meeting with U.S. Rep. RICK LARSEN outside his Rayburn office. “It's great to be in Washington and not have to wear boots in minus 40 degree temperature,” NDP MP PETER JULIAN said. “Members of the House and Senate have been very accessible to us. So we've had lots of good conversations.” The delegation met with 20 U.S. lawmakers on the Hill, inter-parliamentary group co-chair Liberal MP JOHN MCKAY said, plus dozens more at a gala at the Canadian embassy. Topics that held traction were trade, the environment, border security, NATO, NORAD, support for Ukraine and, of course, spy balloons. “It was all balloons all day, what can you say?” McKay said. — When in D.C.: The Canadians were also spotted in some committee hearings, including one on HUNTER BIDEN’s laptop. “To be honest with you, I was having trouble following the Republican’s line [of questioning], one person was talking about vaccines,” McKay told Playbook. “I don’t know what Hunter Biden's got to do with vaccines.” | 
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) at a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | — Bizarre ride: McKay was puzzled by the use of props in the committee: a no-no in Canada. “Under no circumstances would we allow that to happen in our committees,” he said. “The thing here is, you listen to that hearing this morning, and shake your head like there's no agreement on basic facts,” McKay added. “I don't think we’ve got to that level. What I do know is committees here have real drag; Canadian MPs should take some lessons on using the power that they have to be more effective.” HOT SEAT — Today is the tomorrow that MARY NG worried about yesterday. The international trade minister has a date with the House ethics committee this morning for a grilling from MPs over a pair of sweetheart contracts for media training, awarded to friend AMANDA ALVARO, with no competing bids, that violated conflict-of-interest rules. There aren’t any signs Ng will sate the Conservatives’ repeated calls for her resignation. While the federal ethics watchdog didn't ask Ng to fork over a monetary penalty, Conservatives want to see Ng pay back the funds. Ng is the star witness for the first half of the committee. Alvaro joins via videolink for the second half. EARTHQUAKE AFTERMATH — The government says it will match funds up to C$10 million donated through the Red Cross to relief efforts in Turkey and Syria, but it’s under pressure to do more in response to the devastation. In the House on Thursday, NDP MP HEATHER MCPHERSON appealed to Minister Minister of International Development HARJIT SAJJAN to also match funds donated to the Humanitarian Coalition, a group of 12 international aid agencies. “They are on the ground right now,” she told the House. Sen. RATNA OMIDVAR made the same case in the Senate this week: “This is such a complex situation, and there are wonderful organizations … I’m just wondering why there is this sole-source contract.” Sajjan told the House: “All options are on the table, including additional matching funds.” GOZDE KAZAZOGLU, an Ottawa representative of the Turkish Entrepreneurs and Professionals Association of Canada, invites Playbook readers to follow the organization’s Instagram account for other ways to help. Did someone forward Ottawa Playbook your way? Click here to sign up for your own edition. It’s free! | | PAPER TRAIL | |
CABINET’S C$1.45B APPROVAL — The latest activity from Export Development Canada’s Canada Account is a financing deal for Nalcor Energy to aid its Labrador-Island Link project.
Value: Up to C$1.45 billion. The financing deal, disclosed by the Crown corporation in December, required sign-off from Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU’s Cabinet — just like last year’s C$10-billion loan guarantee for TMX. — Tomato, to-mah-to: The St. John’s-based company has another term for the financing help, calling it an “unsecured convertible debenture.” Translation: It’s not backed by collateral assets. Nalcor Energy told Playbook in thick legalese that the Canada Account approval enables access to C$1 billion in the form of convertible debenture — a long-term debt instrument that can be converted into stock after a period of time. The money, the company said, will be used to “lower and re-profile the financing costs of the project over the period to 2071.” Finance Canada took five business days to respond to Playbook’s questions about the deal, confirming the federal investment is linked to the financial restructuring of the Lower Churchill projects. They shared a public link to the Valentine’s Day 2022 term sheet between Ottawa and Newfoundland and Labrador. | | HALLWAY CONVERSATION | | | 
Bob Rae: 'The Security Council is so dysfunctional.' | Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press | NOTES OF RELEVANCE — BOB RAE has his finger in a lot of pies. Haiti is one — a topic that’s bound to come up during President JOE BIDEN’s visit to Canada in March. Exact dates (still) TBA. Russia’s war in Ukraine and keeping tabs on the United Nations Security Council and its elusive rotating non-permanent seats are others. Rae, Canada’s ambassador to the U.N., spoke frankly with Playbook about atrophy in one of the U.N.’s main organs. Is there any path to kick Russia out of the Security Council? Look, Russia has a veto. And so Russia will veto its expulsion and so will China in all probability. Canada would like to see the veto eliminated, but I suspect many Americans would have a different view. So we have to live with what we've got. But that doesn't mean that we're powerless to change it if we decide to, it also doesn't mean that we're powerless to create other institutions and other ways of being able to respond to the crises that we're facing. I think Canada has been able to be very effective at the U.N. without being a member of the Security Council. And I think we should remind ourselves of what’s what. I know Belgium is eyeing a seat on the Security Council in 2037. When is Canada's next run at getting a seat? Well, we're looking at a longer term horizon because we don't want to end up in a situation where we're competing against ourselves and our neighbors and our friends in order to get on the Security Council. Quite frankly, the Security Council is so dysfunctional at the moment that I think all of us are looking at whether or not it, or how, it can be reformed as the critical question. Watch for more of this interview today in POLITICO’s Global Insider newsletter. | | TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS | |
Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in the National Capital Region and has a 10:30 a.m. Q&A with nursing students.
Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND will be in Caledonia, Ont. to make a funding announcement for a battery storage facility. Ontario Premier DOUG FORD, Ontario Energy Minister TODD SMITH and Six Nations of the Grand River Chief MARK HILL will join her. 8:45 a.m. International Trade Minister MARY NG and political commentator AMANDA ALVARO will be at the House ethics committee as MPs study “The Ng report.” 8:45 a.m. Minister of Families, Children and Social Development KARINA GOULD will be at the House human resources committee to discuss service standards for passport renewal. 1:15 p.m. Public Safety Minister MARCO MENDICINO will be in Mississauga, Ont. to make an announcement about preventing gun crime and gang violence. He’ll have photo-op guests: Transport Minister OMAR ALGHABRA, Seniors Minister KAMAL KHERA, Liberal MPs IQRA KHALID, Region of Peel Chair NANDO IANNICCA, Mississauga Mayor BONNIE CROMBIE and Brampton Mayor PATRICK BROWN. | | WHO'S UP, WHO'S DOWN | |
Who’s up: Trust, according to Proof Strategies’ new 2023 CanTrust Index, unless you’re Gen Z or a Canadian aged 75 and older.
Who’s down: Rideau Canal Skateway. Ottawans are sliding into the second weekend of Winterlude without the annual tradition of soothing ice-skate arch pains with après skate BeaverTails. | | MEDIA ROOM | |
— In POLITICO Magazine: The GOP is starting to plot against Donald Trump.
— DANIEL LEBLANC and RICHARD RAYCROFT of CBC report: Government official warns subordinates to be careful about what they write on McKinsey audits. — SEAN SPEER writes at The Hub: “Despite all the attention, the health-care funding plan is not a big deal — and that’s a good thing.” — “Life in the once outrageously profitable — and fun — Canadian newspaper industry is not just dire; it’s pathetic and sad,” PETER MENZIES writes on The Line. — “The voter fatigue is palpable,” Dalhousie professor LORI TURNBULL observes in an opinion piece for iPolitics. “This is a problem for the Liberals if they want to seek a fourth term, but also an opportunity to leave a transformative legacy.” | | PROZONE | |
For POLITICO Pro s, here’s our latest policy newsletter from MAURA FORREST: Who do you trust?
In other news for Pro readers:
— Interior floats engineering fixes for a shriveled Colorado River.
— Climate envoy Kerry concerned as oil companies back off renewables.
— Barnstorming Biden takes his climate law on the road.
— What you need to know about FERC’s agenda.
— House GOP leaders eye possible crypto cooperation. | | PLAYBOOKERS | |
Birthdays: Joyeux anniversaire Conservative MP DOMINIQUE VIEN. HBD + 1 to Southern Ontario FedDev minister FILOMENA TASSI.
Celebrating Saturday: Ontario Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions MICHAEL TIBOLLO. Bonne fête Sunday to Sen. PIERRE-HUGUES BOISVENU and to GEORGE SMITHERMAN, president and CEO of the Cannabis Council of Canada. Send birthdays to ottawaplaybook@politico.com. Spotted: LISA LAFLAMME in Nairobi … Tory MP RYAN WILLIAMS basically doing bicep curls with two giant bags of Hawkins Cheezies … Canadian American Business Council CEO SCOTTY GREENWOOD, and several copies of “With Faith and Goodwill,” at a roundtable White House briefing to talk about Biden’s upcoming visit … Sen. TONY LOFFREDA on Capitol Hill with not a snowflake in sight. German Ambassador SABINE SPARWASSER out for a rip on a Zamboni: “I finally got to realize my life-long dream” … CHRIS HADFIELD meeting KING CHARLES III at Buckingham Palace. | | On the Hill | |
→ Find upcoming House committees here
→ Keep track of Senate committees here 8:45 a.m. IVAN ZINGER, Correctional Investigator of Canada, will be at the House public safety committee to discuss his annual report. 8:45 a.m. Calgary professor THOMAS KEENAN will be among the individuals at the House committee on national defense as it studies cybersecurity and cyberwarfare. 8:45 a.m. The House committee on official languages continues clause-by-clause of C-13. Catch up on the action in today’s Ottawa Playbook. 1 p.m. Sophie Richardson of Human Rights Watch and LHADON TETHONG of Tibet Action Institute will be among the witnesses at the House subcommittee on international human rights. Behind closed doors: The House natural resources committee will discuss two studies: the first on energy transformation, the second on federal support for various industries. | | TRIVIA | |
Thursday’s answer: Over time on the campaign trail, HEDY FRY has defeated KIM CAMPBELL, MARC EMERY, KENNEDY STEWART and SVEND ROBINSON. The Vancouver Centre MP is the longest-serving female Member of Parliament.
Props to TIM MCCALLUM, SYDNEY LINHOLM, D.G. STRINGER, AMY CASTLE, GORDON RANDALL, ALLAN FABRYKANT, CHRISTOPHER LALANDE, NATHAN GORDON, BRENNAN GOREHAM, BOB GORDON, JOANNA PLATER, BRANDON RABIDEAU, JOHN DILLON, PATRICK DION, JOHN ECKER, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, ANNE-MARIE STACEY, NANCI WAUGH, MATTHEW TRAPP, SHEILA GERVAIS, BOB ERNEST, RYAN HAMILTON, AMY BOUGHNER, MARC LEBLANC, ANNE-MARIE STACEY, NANCI WAUGH and MATTHEW TRAPP. Today’s question: How did then-finance minister BILL MORNEAU change the face of Canadian currency? Send your answer to ottawaplaybook@politico.com Playbook wouldn’t happen: Without Luiza Ch. Savage and Sue Allan. Want to grab the attention of movers and shakers on Parliament Hill? Want your brand in front of a key audience of Ottawa influencers? Playbook can help. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |  |
